UPDATE – 26 October 2018: Maxim was found not guilty! Let's celebrate today and then continue the fight to put an end to Russia's "propaganda law".

----------------------

UPDATE – 18 October 2018: Maxim’s hearing was adjourned again. This time to October 26. Maxim’s lawyer believes that a decision will finally be taken on that day. We’ll keep monitoring the situation with our partners.

----------------------

UPDATE – 04 October 2018: Today, Maxim’s hearing has taken place in Biysk, but it has been adjourned to October 18. The reason is that the Court is waiting for additional information from the Russian social media platform VK. Today’s hearing has taken place behind closed doors, so Maxim’s friends could not go and support him. We are constantly in touch with our partners to monitor the situation.

----------------------

UPDATE – 17 September 2018: Today Maxim was supposed to go to court to fight Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law, but his hearing was postponed to October 4. We will keep monitoring the situation and working with our partners on the ground, on the next steps of the campaign.

----------------------

Maxim is 16 years old and he's the first minor to be prosecuted under Russia’s anti-gay law.

Last week, a court fined him 50,000 rubles (around 750 USD / 660 EUR) for posting images of "partly nude" men on social media. In Russia, it's illegal to write, say, or do anything authorities consider "propaganda of non-traditional relationships".

It's ironic that a law that claims to “protect” children is being used against a minor.

Maxim will soon go back to court to fight this decision. The Russian LGBT Network is providing him with legal support, but he’ll need your help as well.

If thousands of people hear about his case, we can get Russia's absurd anti-gay law back in the news. We can demand that charges are dropped and push for an end to these laws once and for all.

Help Maxim fight back – ask authorities to drop charges and to put an end to Russia's "propaganda law".